MKPE Pearls Airport VFR

  • Name
    Pearls Airport
  • ICAO
    MKPE
  • Type
  • Region
  • Timezone
    7:26 am (AST)
  • Municipality
    Pearls
  • Coordinates
    12° 8′ 37″ N 61° 37′ 0″ E
  • Elevation
    20 ft (6 m MSL)

About Pearls Airport

Pearls Airport (ICAO: TGPG) was an airport in Grenada in the Caribbean, located at the northeastern corner of the island, 19 miles (31 km) northeast of the main town and capital St George's (12 degrees 09 minutes North, 61 degrees 37 minutes West) with a runway set at a direction 082 degrees/262 degrees and 5,200 feet (1,600 m) long.

It was the country's first airport, opened in 1943 and was under the management of the Grenada Airports Authority. Pan American Airways did not operate in the Windward Islands, because of an excluding agreement made by the British Government to protect British West Indian Airways. This meant the airport was not in daily operation.

Pearls was used by the Allies for military aircraft during World War II. After the war, the airport reverted to civilian operation and the runway was extended and paved to its final length. The airport's principal commercial carrier was Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT), which linked Grenada to nearby islands with its 48-passenger turboprop aircraft. The airport's surrounding hills and its distance from the capital city of St George's made it unsuitable for further improvements.

On 25 October 1983, Marines from the 8th Marine Regiment landed nearby by helicopter and "captured" Pearls Airport during the United States invasion of Grenada, meeting only light resistance. The airport then consisted of a cinder block terminal/operations building and a fuel storage facility. The Marines seized two parked aircraft.

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